Dr Michael Di Donato is Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Healthy Working Lives Research Group at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. His doctoral studies explored the interaction between income support systems and healthcare for workers with low back pain. Michael extended this work in his postdoctoral research, conducting analyses of trends and the impact of policy changes on medicine use by compensated workers with low back pain for the Australia and New Zealand Low Back Pain Research Network Centre for Research Excellence. Michael is a health services researcher and utilises quantitative and comparative policy methods. His research seeks to understand the impact of policy changes on healthcare service use and social welfare outcomes in compensated workers. Michael’s areas of interest include social welfare and income support systems, healthcare delivery and quality for low back pain, and how workers’ compensation system policy influences worker disability and recovery.